Time draws short to salvage the Kalakala's wonderful life

As the art deco boat's eviction from her Lake Union berth draws near, the old ferry Kalakala still has no holiday-spirited benefactor coming forth. .

As the art deco boat's eviction from her Lake Union berth draws near, the old ferry Kalakala still has no holiday-spirited benefactor coming forth. .

Photo: Phil H. Webber/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Time draws short to salvage the Kalakala's wonderful life

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Clarence is listening but, so far, not a tinkle can be heard over the ticktock, ticktock of the Kalakala's clock.

A Dec. 31 eviction deadline is closing in like a slow torpedo. And, so far, no one or no group of "someones" here in the nation's premier ferryland is earning any angel's wings. No one is stepping up to save the art deco boat as a fitting ornament and historic link to maritime Seattle.

Not even with the city finally promising last month that it will find the iconic 1934 ferry a permanent place on the waterfront once she is restored.

Why not? That's what CNN reporter-producer Lilian Kim asked me on-camera as we stood beside the mother of all makeovers at the north end of Lake Union a week ago for a taped report to air starting today on the various CNN networks.

Here's what I figure.

The throngs of people who cried, threw confetti, shot water canons into the air and otherwise celebrated the Kalakala's homecoming four years ago have either forgotten her or just don't know what they can do to help.

Sure, it's easy to say that, if each person in the county would contribute the cost of a single latte to the cause, repairs would be under way. But there's no mechanism in place for that. And times are tight. And it's not as if you can go into a booth and vote for a two-buck tax levy.

There's also no getting around the fact that the rusty, crusty symbol of the region's ferry fleet looks really bad these days. But, filmed in time-lapse for an eventual comeback, her ferry-tale rise from the Alaskan fish-processing muck, her triumphal return to town, and the steps of her beautification could well be the stuff of movie magic.

Her business plan as a future tourist draw, after all, is a lot sounder than her unprotected hull.

By the way, the condition of that hull means that, for the present, the Kalakala must keep her big round bottom in fresh water.

The Kalakala needs a last-minute, Frank Capra miracle. First, a new temporary berth, and next, an underwriter to guarantee the tax-exempt bonds that will pay for her restorative surgery.

We're not talking public money. Not even a huge, sugar daddy-size gift. For starters she simply needs someplace to go before New Year's Eve.

Each morning when he gets up, two sounds buzz in the ears of Art Skolnik, the unsinkable historic preservationist and the official keeper of the Kalakala Foundation flame. One is the hissing threat of the current moorage owners to get that bucket of bolts out of there, now! The other equally insistent sound is his own voice repeating, "It's going to happen today!"

But even an optimist admits when things are desperate.

"If this boat has to be moved with nowhere else to go, I'll be on it," Skolnik told me.

With a sleeping bag and a store of food, a flashlight and a gunny sack stuffed with grim determination, Skolnik vows he will stay aboard even if the Lady K has to tow itself out into Lake Washington where she'll sit creating a navigational hazard not to mention a pathetic symbol of homelessness.

"I guess we'd just have to stay there until someone comes out to arrest us," Skolnik said, adding that it would be bitterly ironic if authorities had to find a pier for the Kalakala under such a circumstance.

One very viable possibility is a temporary berth at or near a little-used pier owned by NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Maybe they've been encouraged by a few calls from members of Washington state's congressional delegation. Maybe they're thinking of a new-day NOAA's ark. But rumor has it that a few kind officials at NOAA are considering helping the ferry find a slot.

Meanwhile, these are not easy times for Skolnik who has lived and breathed the Kalakala cause since taking over as executive director six months ago.

He and nationally known UW sociologist, relationship expert and best-selling self-help author, Dr. Pepper Schwartz, have legally separated and will file for divorce about the same time the Kalakala is booted from her berth.

But Skolnik is imbued with the belief that a restored Kalakala must be saved in Seattle. That's why he's resisted feelers from San Francisco, from casino owners and other suitors who've made offers to take her away.

"I'm willing to stand naked in the wind if I have to, but, damn it, this is for the community," Skolnik said, admitting, "This is not going to be a very happy Christmas."